The Eastern Enlargements of the EU: Why and How Far? Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series Vol.5 No. 29 August 2005

[From the introduction]. On 1 May 2004 the European Union (EU) became a Union of 25 Member States (EU-25). Eight Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) as well as Cyprus and Malta joined the EU in its largest enlargement ever. Before this could happen both sides, the 10 newcomers and the EU itself had to go through various reforms in the hope that the new much larger Union will be able to function in a satisfactory way in the future. In this paper we shall outline these gradual processes of preparation for the May 2004 enlargement and discuss the current situation where Bulgaria and Romania expect to join in 2007 and other states hope to join as soon as possible. Why does the EU keep enlarging and what are the implications for the future of European integration